September 23, 2009
President Nguyen Minh Triet
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Office of the State
1 Bach Thao
Hanoi, Vietnam
Via facsimile: +84 4 823-1872
Dear President Triet,
I am writing to express my deep concern regarding planned trials in Vietnam this week to punish peaceful democracy activists.
According to press reports, your government will try eight Vietnamese citizens (writer Nguyen Xuan Nghia, university student Ngo Quynh, former communist party member Nguyen Manh Son, essayist Nguyen Van Tinh, land rights activist Nguyen Van Tuc, electrician Nguyen Kim Nhan, high school teacher Vu Hung, and engineer Pham Van Troi) on charges of “propaganda against the socialist state.”
I understand that these individuals in fact published articles on the internet and planned to display banners advocating for human rights and democracy. Freedom of expression is a fundamental right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and it is one that is protected under the Vietnamese Constitution. As you prepare to address the United Nations General Assembly this week, I hope that you are mindful that your government has detained scores of Vietnamese who have exercised rights guaranteed by the United Nations Declaration.
Blogging on topics such as the environment should not be criminalized. I call on you to release all political prisoners in Vietnam
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
EDWARD R. ROYCE